Nearly half of Middlesbrough is made up of areas that are the most deprived in England.

New figures show the area ranks top for the proportion of small areas in the 10% most deprived areas in England - having moved up from second in 2010.

The area ranks fifth for the proportion of the local population that live in areas classified as among the most deprived in the country.

More than a tenth of Middlesbrough (11.6%) is made up of areas in the bottom 1% of deprived areas of England.

Nearly two-fifths of the area (38.4%) made up of places in the bottom 5% and half (48.8%) in the bottom 10%.

Middlesbrough has had four areas that have consistently been in the 1% most deprived areas of England since 2004.

Deputy mayor of the town, Councillor Charlie Rooney said: “The challenges Middlesbrough faces around social deprivation are no secret, and this latest report shows many of the same findings highlighted by its predecessor in 2010.

“These are deep-seated socio-economic issues that have built up over many decades, and for which there are no easy overnight solutions or quick fixes.

“However there is no doubt that towns like Middlesbrough have suffered disproportionately as a result of the Government’s savage cuts to the public sector compared with more affluent parts of the country.

“The cuts have severely reduced our ability to support those individuals and communities most in need of help and that will inevitably impact on our resilience to the chronic effects of deprivation.

“This is a town that is changing and looking to the future with confidence, and we will continue to work with a wide range of partners to improve quality of life and future prospects for everyone who lives and works here.

“But we can only achieve those long-term goals with the sort of support the current Government appears determined to withhold from us on ideological grounds.”

(Image: Katie Lunn)

Update: Click here to see where your postcode ranks in the national data

The analysis from the Department for Communities and Local Government was last released in 2010.

The work on the 2015 release has been carried out by Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI).

The English Indices of Deprivation measures relative levels of deprivation in small areas of England called Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs).

These are small areas made up of around 400 to 1,200 households, or 1,000 to 3,000 people. There are 32,844 in England.

Deprivation covers a broad range of issues and refers to unmet needs caused by a lack of resources of all kinds, not just financial.

Each domain represents a specific form of deprivation experienced by people and each can be measured individually using a number of indicators.

Seven distinct domains have been identified in the English Indices of Deprivation; Income Deprivation, Employment Deprivation, Health Deprivation and Disability, Education Skills and Training Deprivation, Barriers to Housing and Services, Living Environment Deprivation, and Crime.